Psalm 25:1-11
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse. Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.
Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old. Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to your love remember me, for you are good, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great. (NIV)
John 18:15-27
Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the girl on duty there and brought Peter in.
"You are not one of his disciples, are you?" the girl at the door asked Peter. He replied, "I am not."
It was cold, and the servants and officials stood around a fire they had made to keep warm. Peter also was standing with them, warming himself.
Meanwhile, the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and his teaching. "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. Why question me? Ask those who heard me. Surely they know what I said."
When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby struck him in the face. "Is this the way you answer the high priest?" he demanded.
“If I said something wrong," Jesus replied, "testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?"
Then Annas sent him, still bound, to Caiaphas the high priest. As Simon Peter stood warming himself, he was asked, "You are not one of his disciples, are you?" He denied it, saying, "I am not." One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, "Didn’t I see you with him in the olive grove?"
Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow. (NIV)
John gives a great history of the life of Jesus, but what really makes that history come alive is that he is more than a historian. He is a storyteller.
There is a difference between the two.
The historian tends to be most interested in facts, causes and events, and details. The historian would look at an event such as the Battle of Midway and say something to the effect that on June 7 and 8, 1942, just 6 months after suffering a defeat in the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Navy turned the tide of the war in the Pacific. Having intercepted secret messages, the Navy knew of Japanese plans to attack and take over the Island of Midway. With this foreknowledge, Admiral Spruance led a successful resistance and inflicted irreparable damage on the Japanese Imperial Fleet.
Who among us has not sat through a school class as some historian droned on and on about the cold hard facts of the events.
But – let a storyteller walk into the room and all of us will perk up our ears and listen in great interest.
“There I was,” the storyteller would say, “Stationed on the aircraft carrier Yorktown. It had been badly damaged but we limped our way out of Pearl Harbor after being pieced back together. I took off on the morning of June 7th and flew above the clouds until I reached a break in the cloud cover. All of a sudden, I looked down and saw the whole cotton pickin’ Jap Fleet. My whole squadron started dive-bombing the ships. I dove on one and dropped a bomb on them just like they had done to us back at Pearl. I looked back and saw the ship in flames and I knew right then, we were going to save the Island of Midway!”
John is that kind of storyteller. In our New Testament lesson he tells us a story that ALL Gospel writers record. But John remembers it in such wonderfully vivid detail. For he was there>
Other Gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell us the facts, the details.
Peter was at the courtyard waiting for the trial of Jesus to end.
A maid comes up and asks, “Aren’t you a disciple?”
Peter denies it.
He is asked again.
Again he denies it.
A third time he is asked.
A third time he denies it.
Then a rooster crows and Peter remembers the prophetic words of Christ, who told Peter that he would deny him three times before the rooster crowed.
Matthew, Mark and Luke all have the details of this event as second hand information. They tell the event with the cold hard facts. John comes along, and with the skill of a storyteller, says, “There we were…”
Both John and Peter were with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when Judas, leading a group of Roman soldiers and Jewish Temple guards came. It was the classic lynch mob that John describes: “they were armed and carried lanterns and torches.” When face to face with Jesus, they admit that they have come for him.
Simon Peter, determined to be the hero, took his sword and struck out at the High Priest’s slave, cutting off his right ear. A determined Jesus ordered Peter to put his sword away. The soldiers tied Jesus up and dragged him off to be tried.
John, even after long years, remembered every detail, every event. He even remembered the name of the poor slave whose ear was whacked off – Malchus. No other Gospel writer could have told us that detail.
John, like most good storytellers, keeps his mind on the theme of the story. He stays focused. Luke, in his Gospel, writes about how Jesus did not leave the Garden of Gethsemane until he had healed Malchus. Luke, being a doctor, was interested in the sick and suffering finding healing.
But John as a storyteller is interested in staying focused to the theme of the story, which at this point is Peter.
John focuses on the apparent bravery of Peter. The extreme devotion. The loyalty of the disciple to the Master.
And without letting us forget that picture of Peter, John rushes the story along so as to give us a startling contrast.
This brave disciple named Peter, which means “Rock,” suddenly crumbles into a coward, deserving our wrath, anger and pity.
These two disciples -- Peter and John -- follow Jesus as he is led away to be tried by the High Priest and by other officials.
Surprisingly, John knows the High Priest. It was probably not an intimate friendship, but it was enough to get him into the courtyard of the High Priest’s home.
But Peter, ashamed and uncomfortable and afraid, stays outside the gate with his hands in his pockets and his heart in his throat.
It is John, who having noticed Peter’s absence speaks to the girl at the gate and brings Peter inside.
It is this girl who first asks the question to Peter, “Aren’t you ALSO one of the disciples of that man?”
The way she asks that question, you can tell that she knew that John was a disciple. Since John indicated a friendship with Peter, she rightly assumes that Peter is also a disciple.
But to the surprise of John, when the woman asks Peter if he is also a disciple of Christ, he says he is not.
What John remembers next is the chill. It was cold – a fact left out of the other Gospels. But John could not forget. It WAS cold, but there was probably another reason why there was a quiver in his chin and a shiver in his spin. But because it was cold, they built a fire – another fact left out of the other Gospels. But John remembers the fire. And he even remembers the fact that it was a charcoal fire.
For every weekend, from that night onward, when the neighborhood would be filled with the tasty aroma of charcoal fires, what John would think of would not be the flavor of fresh fish cooked on the open fire, but rather the haunting night in that courtyard as they gathered around the fire waiting to see the outcome of Christ’s trial.
While standing around that fire, others asked the same question – word for word the same – “Aren’t you also one of the disciples of that man?”
And again, Peter gave the same reply, and again word for word the same, “No, I am not.”
And then came the last person Peter would want to see. A slave. A relative of the very man whose ear Peter had cut off a short time before.
Again the question is asked, but this time the words are changed. It is not just a question any longer. It is an accusation.
“I saw you in the Garden with him, didn’t I.”
Again, Peter begins his well-rehearsed answer, “No.” But before he can finish with the words, “I am not,” the rooster crows and Peter is reminded of the prophecy Jesus had spoken hours before. Christ had said that Peter would deny knowing his Lord three times before the rooster crowed, and sure enough, it has happened.
Then John abruptly ends this story about Peter. He moves to other stories, other themes, and focuses on Christ. He does not return to Peter again until after the Resurrection.
John even leaves out something that the other Gospel writers included. John, who has included much more information about this event than the other Gospels, leaves out the words of Matthew, Mark and Luke, all of whom tell us that “Peter cried bitterly” when he realized what he had done.
What impresses John is not that regret that Peter felt for his act, but rather the contrast he sees between Peter the brave and committed disciple, and Peter the cowardly man denying his relationship with Christ.
One minute, Peter is willing to single handedly fight off an armed mob to protect Jesus. Then, in the next scene, Peter is afraid and embarrassed; denying that he even knew Christ.
What was it about this that impressed John to such a degree that he would remember this in such vivid detail?
Was it anger? The kind of self-righteous anger we feel when we find that one of our fellow Christians is not such a devoted disciple after all?
Was it shame? The kind of shame one feels toward one who should be loyal and faithful to us, but when the chips are down, they let us down.
I suspect it was fear. John’s fear. If brave, courageous Peter could end up weak and frightened and denying Christ, then maybe the same could happen to John. Perhaps John is afraid that he could become like Peter.
We are all subject to the weakness of our flesh. A compassionate man, when given the opportunity, may take advantage of some unsuspecting soul for greed and careless gain. A devoted wife may let herself be swept into an adulterous affair. A usually honest young man may suddenly catch himself in a lie.
Such has happened to Peter. Brae. Solid as a rock. Peter has crumbled into a sniveling coward. And John must be looking on at this and prayerfully and reverently asking, “My God, will I ever do that?”
In the years that followed, he may have. We simply do not know.
One thing we can be sure of – is what might be John’s fear should certainly be our fear.
If strong Peter could deny Christ, we might also.
A student sitting in a study hall Monday morning, talking to a group of buddies, starts to tell something funny that happened in the church the day before – but… Before he can relate his story, one of his buddies pipes up, “CHURCH! You go to church?”
Feeling a flush of embarrassment and anticipating being ridiculed by his peers, the teenager passes it off as incidental. “Oh no, not usually, but you know my parents. Going to church just gets them off my back for a while…”
A man goes to work on Friday and hears a racist joke. He doesn’t speak out against it, because he is afraid others will call him a religious fanatic. It is easier to remain quiet.
Every opportunity we have to live the Christian life, but fail to, becomes a moment of denial.
Every opportunity we have to stand up for Christ, but fail to, becomes a moment of denial.
With good reason, we are afraid that we may someday do the same thing Peter did. Deny Christ.
What hope is there for one who would do such a thing?
After all, over in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says that “whoever declares publicly that he belongs to me, the Son of Man will do the same for him before the angels of God. But, whoever rejects me publicly, the Son of Man will also reject him.”
When we deny that we are followers of Christ, what is our hope?
Our hope is that we can return to Christ. If we deny Christ, we CAN still repent of that sin and reaffirm our commitment to him.
According to Paul, the first person Jesus came back to see after Easter morning was Peter. We don’t know what they talked about that day when Jesus made his first post-resurrection appearance to Peter, but John tells us all about what happened when Jesus made his last post-resurrection appearance to Peter.
At that last conversation, there were some haunting reminders of that night in the courtyard. The sun was rising, and it is easy to imagine that in the distance, in some Galilean’s courtyard, a rooster was crowing – just as a rooster had crowed in the courtyard of denial.
When Peter approached Jesus, he found his master next to a fire. Of all things, it is not wood, but charcoal. The aroma must have reminded Peter of the charcoal fire in the courtyard of denial.
And just as in the courtyard of denial, Peter is asked a question.
Just as in the courtyard of denial, Peter is asked the same question three times.
And just as in the courtyard of denial, Peter gives consistently the same answer over and over.
The question Jesus puts to Simon Peter is: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”
Each answer Peter gives is, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
After each answer, and before the repetition of that answer, Jesus gives a command that Peter get his act together as a disciple and start acting like a Christian. In the words of Jesus, “Feed my sheep.”
And from that time on that is exactly what Peter does.
In the early history of the church, Peter and John made up a preaching team. But it is Peter who is the brave one. It is Peter who is the spokesman. It is Peter who is the leader.
From the dust of his cowardice, Peter has risen to become a great disciple.
I suspect that it is the reason John remembers this event of Peter’s denial with such detail. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of Peter or angry with Peter or even afraid that he might become LIKE Peter and someday deny Christ.
What really made this even so important to John was that even though a Rock like Peter could crumble, that a brave commitment to Christ could evaporate in the course of a single, brief evening, even thought all this could happen, there was still HOPE. The weak, cowardly disciple can become a strong committed follower.
From the dust of Peter’s failure, Jesus raised a committed and devoted disciple.
Have you denied Christ?
Are there times when you avoid letting people know that you also are a follower of that Lord?
Christ still calls you. Loves you. And is ready to forgive you and to raise out of the dust of your failures a more devoted disciple.
Copyright Maynard Pittendreigh, 2003
All Rights Reserved
